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The Prince and the Queen of Jnun (1880e)

One day, upon the return of Rabbi Abraham from a long and exhausting business trip to Fez, a royal guard stood at his door with a letter from the king in his hand (1860e).

Rabbi Abraham removed the royal seal with haste to find out what was the matter of concern.

” I, Si Mohamed the Great,” the letter read, “have heard of your great wisdom and I will find great pleasure to see you in my palace immediately upon your return to Fez. You will be received with great honour and your desire will be granted with God’s help!”

Afraid to offend the waiting king, Rabbi Abraham rushed to the royal palace still wearing his dusty clothes as commanded and upon his arrival at the palace, a banquet was held in his honour.

“Rabbi Abraham,” said the king “my son, the one to inherit my crown, lost his mind. I implore you, saint of saints, see to it that he is cured!”

“O great and generous king,” Rabbi Abraham replied, “who am I to cure anyone, not to speak of royalty and sons of kings? May you be blessed with long life, all I know is praying, the rest is in the hands of the Almighty! May He, in His mercy, grant us grace and make of your son the most benevolent prince worthy to inherit your crown of kings!”

Rabbi Abraham, wasting no time, took the young prince to his home, dressed in a Jewish robe, to dwell with him as one of his sons!

One night, Liltih, the queen of the jnun called upon Rabbi Abraham in his dream. ” I implore you, saint of saints,” said the queen of jnun, “give me the wicked prince, for he is destined to inflict misery upon the children of Israel”

Rabbi Abraham trembled in his dream and replied: “Go away, ‘thought-of-troubles,’ leave the prince alone, for his father to learn God is One and Israel serve Him!”

But the queen of the Jnun was determined to take the prince away and she snatched his soul with all her might and began her flight to heaven. And Rabbi Abraham levitated like an angel from the depth of his dream to open the gates of his house to allow the first light of the day to shine upon the face of the prince. And when the prince opened his eyes, the queen of jnun shrank from her great height into the smallest of creatures on earth, kneeling in fear at his feet.

Startled at first, the prince seized the queen of jnun, sealing her in a jar of marvellous transparency for everyone to see. And until the end of his days, even after the prince became king, people swear the queen of jnun kneeled at the king’s feet, reminding him that his state of mind remained in the hands of a jnun trapped in a fragile container. Should the king ever mistreat his subjects, the jar would shatter and the queen of jnun would escape with his soul and sanity!

Illustration

A king
A fairy queen in a bottle at the feet of the king
A Man with a beard and head cover standing and watching.